5 Best Photo Tips for your Hawaii vacation by Hawaii photographer

This blog post is sponsored by Hawaii Stretch Video Sale

Hooray the photo tips from Hawaii photographer Jennifer Crites are here!

Jennifer, renowned Honolulu photographer and Hawaii travel writer, will use some great samples of her Hawaii stock photos for showing you how to take photos on your Hawaii vacation. These photo tips by an experienced Hawaii photographer will help you taking perfect photos of your Hawaii vacation to share with family and friends. Also visit our blog post interview with Jennifer how she became a Hawaii photographer. Get ready for Jennifer's Hawaii photo tips:

"1. Know your camera, and bring your instruction book with you in case you need to refer to it."

When I’m approached by people asking for photography advice, one of my suggestions is to use the camera’s flash to fill in facial shadows outdoors. This portrait was taken using flash to add sparkle to the couple’s faces. Most cameras, no matter how simple, have a ‘forced flash in daylight’ option, but camera owners are frequently unaware of how to make their camera do this. A lot of fun camera controls go unused because it’s easier, but not necessarily better, to leave all the settings on automatic. When taking a photo of people in the shade, automatic exposure would leave them dark against the bright, sunny background as the camera tries to balance the two extremes of light. But by using flash, I am able to balance the foreground and background light to make a pleasant, natural looking photo.

"2. Keep it simple and uncluttered: Identify a main subject for each photo."

It could be a beautiful beach, an ancient Hawaiian heiau (temple), a fruit stand on the Road to Hana, or Kilauea Caldera on the Big Island. Then zoom or move in to eliminate everything that doesn’t apply to that main subject: cars, houses, telephone poles. You get the idea. My main subject in this photo is the lei-draped King Kamehameha statue in front of the Hawaii State Judiciary building in downtown Honolulu. Also some subjects beg for close-ups. At that fruit stand, move in on the ripe pineapples and let the other colorful fruits provide the background. Or shoot the proprietor’s hand as she holds a papaya. The possibilities are endless.

"3. Watch the light: Is the strong Hawaii sunlight making your subjects squint?"

Put them in the shade of a building or tree and watch eyes open up. Or put the sun behind them. Backlight is beautiful. Just remember to use fill flash to light faces. An open sky reflects light from the sun and becomes a big, soft light source for lovely face lighting. Avoid strong overhead light when the sun is high in the sky, or use fill flash to lighten those dark shadow areas. Be careful not to look directly at the sun when taking Hawaii sunset pictures; doing so can cause eye damage. Instead, partially hide the sun behind palm branches or something that breaks up the harsh directional rays. Placing the sun behind this rare silversword plant on top of Haleakala volcano on Maui, protected my eyes and gave the photo some beautiful backlighting.

"4. Look for details: "

Once you’ve taken that picture of outrigger canoes on a beach, look for photos within the photo. On one canoe I found an airbrushed portrait of a lovely woman with a plumeria flower in her hair. I also shot a closeup of the lashing, where the outrigger is attached to the boom of the canoe. While photographing Lyon Arboretum on Oahu, I found an image of a palm tree carved into a wooden bench. A closeup of this Hawaiian man’s hand using a poi-pounder to mash cooked taro into poi makes an interesting detail photo. Adding details will make your photo “story” richer.

"5. Frame-up:"

Keep your viewers’ eyes in the photo by framing your subject. Flowers, trees, an archway, rocks.....anything can be a frame as long as it’s around the edges of the photo and doesn’t take attention away from your subject. Get creative. In a photo of Mom shopping in Lahaina, have someone hold two aloha shirts closer to the camera and on either side of Mom. Voila! You have a flowery frame. In this photo taken in Maui’s Iao Valley, the stream, as well as the hills on upper right and left, all frame the Iao Needle and lead the viewer into the photo.

These are just a few tips that can help you take beautiful pictures of your Hawaii vacation. Please feel free to send in questions, and I’ll be glad to answer in future posts on Best Hawaii vacation blog. Aloha, Jennifer"

Much mahalo Jennifer for the great photo tips with the matching photos for our Hawaii vacation blog visitors and amateur photographers. We love your photos, Jennifer! Those tips will help hold the adventure of a lifetime in Hawaii with the right photo. Take advantage of Jennifer's offer to answer your Hawaii photo questions right here, on our Best Hawaii Vacation blog.

Have fun taking your best photos in Hawaii. Aloha, Pua Kohala Coast Vacation Guide Photos

Tags: Best photos, Hawaii vacation